GENEVA, Switzerland, August 8, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM has donated 3,300 solar lanterns to reach 20,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Somalia. The recipients are now at less risk of gender-based violence (GBV), their children will be able to do homework after school, and they may be able to generate more income if their shops and small businesses can operate at night.Displaced families benefiting from the solar lantern distribution are those particularly vulnerable to GBV living in 35 IDP settlements in Burao, Somaliland, Garowe, Puntland and Mogadishu. The distribution, which took place in late July, was coordinated by…
Author: apofeed
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 8, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — United Nations human rights expert Bahame Tom Nyanduga urges the international community to act now to avert a looming humanitarian disaster in Somalia. The new Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Somalia calls on donors to respond to the humanitarian appeal launched by the UN and partners in collaboration with the Somali Government,which currently has a funding gap of US$ 663 million. “The food shortage situation in Somalia is deteriorating rapidly. An ongoing conflict, the lower than usual rains in the agricultural parts of the country, the hiking…
WASHINGTON, August 8, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press StatementMarie HarfDeputy Department Spokesperson, Office of the SpokespersonWashington, DCAugust 7, 2014At the recommendation of the U.S. Embassy in Liberia, the State Department today ordered the departure from Monrovia of all eligible family members (EFMs) not employed by post in the coming days. The Embassy recommended this step out of an abundance of caution, following the determination by the Department’s Medical Office that there is a lack of options for routine health care services at major medical facilities due to the Ebola outbreak. We are reconfiguring the Embassy staff to be more…
OTTAWA, Canada, August 8, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Today Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, hosted a round table along with Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo and Parliamentary Secretary for Infrastructure and Communities, as well as with local stakeholders, to discuss the way forward to continue to improve the lives of mothers and their children in the developing world. This meeting was part of the consultations announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach Summit which took place in…
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 8, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Since the crisis began in South sudan in December 2013, over 1.1 million people have been displaced from their homes. Over 95,000 of them are sheltering in UN Protection of Civilian (PoC) sites throughout the country, where they are provided with humanitarian assistance.The IOM Displacement Tracking and Monitoring (DTM) team has been involved in the monitoring and registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) countrywide since the New Year and on 6th August it launched a new biometric registration exercise for IDPs sheltering in Juba PoCs.IOM and its partners are now collecting…
LUSAKA, Zambia, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Africa team for Garmin Sub-Saharan Africa (http://www.garmin.co.za) will be hosting meetings in Lusaka, Zambia to meet with buyers, potential resellers and business partners. The purpose of the Garmin trade delegation is to engage and meet with prospective buyers, resellers and businesses partners who are involved in the fishing, farming, agriculture, oil and gas, land development, surveying, navigation, and health and wellness industries. Photo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/1406254.jpgLogo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/garmin-logo.jpgThe CEO of Sub-Saharan Africa Walter Mech invites you to meet the Garmin trade delegation Lusaka, Zambia from the 26 – 29 August.Garmin’s Outdoor GPS products…
LUSAKA, Zambia, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — AGCO (Your Agriculture Company, NYSE:AGCO) (http://www.agcocorp.com), a worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, has launched a partnership with Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation (a US Agency for International Development-funded program) to reduce post-maize harvest losses and improve grain handling in Zambia. Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/agco.jpgPhoto 1: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1283Photo 2: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1282The new Bags2Bulk project will see AGCO and it partners, GSI Africa, Musika and Ybema Grain Services, introduce and sell 40 metal storage silos at grain trader level benefitting 12,000 smallholder farmers. In the first of several product demonstrations scheduled for Zambia’s Central…
NEW YORK, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — In May 2014, Malawi invited the Security Council’s 1540 Committee and the 1540 Experts to a country visit to discuss the implementation of resolution 1540 and to receive assistance in the drafting of its national 1540 report.The country visit follows the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament (UNREC) organized workshop on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1540 (2004) for non-reporting English-speaking United Nations Member States, which was held in April 2014 in Pretoria.The country visit will include a joint meeting of the 1540 Committee, the Malawi National Counter-Terrorism…
PARIS, France, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — On Friday 1 August 2014 , Uganda’s Constitutional Court annulled the discriminatory Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) passed by the Ugandan Parliament on 20 December 2013 and signed into law by President Museveni on 24 February 2014. The judges ruled on procedural grounds, finding that the text had been passed by Members of Parliament (MPs) without the requisite quorum. FIDH welcomes this decision upholding the rule of law, but underlines that LGBTI persons in Uganda remain stigmatized and repressed. The Constitutional court’s ruling annulling the anti-homosexuality law is celebrated as a historic victory…
OTTAWA, Canada, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Today, Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie, hosted a round table along with Susan Truppe, Member of Parliament for London North Centre and Parliamentary Secretary for Status of Women, as well as with local stakeholders, to discuss the way forward to continue to improve the lives of mothers and their children in the developing world. This meeting was part of the consultations announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach summit, which took…
ACCRA, Ghana, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — • 125 machines with a total weight of 1,596 tons have already been delivered• An additional 80 pieces of construction equipment will soon be shipped out of Hamburg DHL Global Forwarding, the air and sea freight specialist of Deutsche Post DHL (http://www.dpdhl.com) has successfully run a big part of a major ocean freight project from Germany to Ghana for the family-owned construction company, GP Günter Papenburg AG, Germany. 125 pieces of machinery and equipment including 15 bulldozers, 20 loaders, 10 excavators, 60 motor graders, and 20 tippers plus various spare parts…
DUBLIN, Ireland, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Minister of State for Development, Trade Promotion and North South Co-operation, Seán Sherlock, TD, today announced the allocation of €1.5 million to address the immediate needs of those most at risk of famine in South Sudan. Minister Sherlock spoke today about the threat of impending famine in South Sudan: “I am gravely concerned by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in South sudan. ireland will provide an additional allocation of €1.5 million to the UN Common Humanitarian Fund for South sudan in response to the crisis. “This funding will assist the UN and…
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — MEDIA ADVISORYWhen: 08 August, 2014Time: 11:00 AMVenue: Juba Grand HotelThe African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) would like to inform the media and the general public, that a Press Conference to share the unfolding of its Advocacy Mission in South Sudan will be held on Friday, 08 August, 2014, at 11:00 AM at Juba Grand Hotel, Juba. A report on the outcome of the mission will be presented after the mission.The mission will conduct field visits to Bor and Minkamen on 05 August,…
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is deeply concerned by the arrest and detention of DRC opposition MP, Mr. Jean-Bertrand Ewanga, in light of serious allegations that they violate his parliamentary immunity and freedom of expression. IPU is calling for the DRC authorities and the newly established Constitutional Court to ensure full respect for parliamentary immunity and Mr. Ewanga’s fundamental rights in the ongoing judicial process. It also calls for the immediate implementation of yesterday’s Supreme Court decision ordering the placement of Mr. Ewanga under house arrest instead of his detention in a…
JOHANNESBURG, South-Africa, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Global capital project and infrastructure spending is expected to grow to more than $9 trillion annually by 2025, up from $4 trillion in 2012, according to a new report issued by PwC (http://www.pwc.com), ‘Capital project and infrastructure spending: Outlook to 2025′.Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/pwc.pngPhoto: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1280 (Jonathan Cawood, PwC Head of Capital Projects and Infrastructure for Africa)The report, for which Oxfords Economics provided research support, analyses infrastructure spending across 49 of the world’s largest economies which account for 90 percent of global economic output. It covers five industry sectors – extraction, utilities, manufacturing, transport…
GENEVA, Switzerland, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is shocked and dismayed by reports of the killing of at least six humanitarian workers from various non-governmental organizations in Maban County, South Sudan, since 4 August. “The targeting of humanitarian workers in Bunj, the county capital, must stop. There has to be an environment in which humanitarian work can take place, so that aid can be brought to around 120,000 refugees in the area,” said Franz Rauchenstein, head of the ICRC delegation in South sudan. “If access is hindered by lack of…
NAIROBI, Kenya, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in South sudan to ensure the safety of a freelance journalist who has been in hiding since late July. Abraham Agoth told CPJ that he fled his home in the northern state of Bahr el Ghazal on July 28, fearing arrest.Agoth told CPJ he believes the state’s caretaker governor, Kuel Aguer Kuel, was unhappy with his coverage of state security issues for several media outlets, including the U.S.-backed broadcaster Voice of America, the local news website Gurtong, and the independent weekly The Patriot.…
WASHINGTON, August 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Press StatementJohn KerrySecretary of StateWashington, DCAugust 6, 2014The United States strongly condemns the recent reports of targeted and deliberate killings of six humanitarian aid workers in Maban County, Upper Nile State, South sudan. The people of South sudan are paying a horrific price for the failure of their leaders to resolve this senseless conflict. We call on all parties to immediately refrain from intimidation of humanitarian workers and the deliberate and ethnically-based targeting of civilians.The killing of innocent humanitarian workers who risked their lives to provide desperately needed aid at time when…
MOGADISHU, Somalia, August 6, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia (SRSG), Nicholas Kay, welcomed the addition of Himan and Heeb as a signatory to an agreement in principle to form a regional administration in central Somalia. Parties to the agreement, initially signed by other stakeholders on 30 July, have agreed to work together towards the establishment of a new administration in central Somalia. “I welcome the addition of Himan and Heeb as a signatory to this first step in the process of state formation in central Somalia,” SRSG Kay said. “I congratulate…
OSLO, Norway, August 6, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — ‘I am very concerned about the latest setback in the South sudan peace talks. I urge both parties to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible,’ said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende.The parties to the conflict started new peace talks on Monday, overseen by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and supported by the Troika countries (Norway, the UK and the US). The talks also included representatives of civil society, other political parties and religious leaders. On Tuesday evening, the rebel group SPLM-IO, led by Riek Machar, withdrew…